Numerous recliners have been available for some time that allow a person to lean back in the chair or engage in a rocking motion to relax. More recently, reclining chairs have been developed that allow a person's feet to be elevated above his or her heart for relaxation and therapeutic purposes. One such chair, called a chaise longue, is designed by Le Corbusier. That chair includes a seat portion and supporting legs. The supporting legs include long, arc-shaped, formed steel tubes adapted for cradling the seat portion. The seat portion is held in place on the supporting legs merely by friction applied by the weight of the occupant. Because it relies on the occupant's weight as a braking mechanism, one disadvantage of the chair is that the occupant must get off of it to recline to a different position, which can be inconvenient.
Another reclining chair that allows for a user's feet to be elevated above his or her heart is disclosed in Goldman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,599 ("Goldman"). That chair includes a fixed seat structure and a supporting frame having oppositely positioned side members. The seat structure swings or pivots about pivot connecting points on each of the side members by way of pivot elements resembling pendulum arms. The pendulum arms extend from the pivot point to a corresponding end of the seat structure. Accordingly, the combined weight of the occupant and seat structure is supported directly from the pivot point.
Although suitable for allowing the chair to be reclined, the chair disclosed in Goldman also possesses undesirable characteristics. One disadvantage is that its pendulum arms constrain the types of designs that can be realized because the pendulum arms cannot be obstructed. Another disadvantage has to do with the chair's braking system for locking the seat structure into a particular position. The braking system includes a pair of rotatable knobs, one coupled to each pendulum arm opposite the pivot point. When screwed, each knob frictionally engages the outside of an arc-shaped, slotted guide track on each side member arranged to follow the motion of the pendulum arm. To lock the chair in a particular position, the user must turn the knobs in opposite directions, which can be awkward.
Users of reclining chairs and those skilled in the art of designing such chairs would prefer a reclining chair in which an individual could easily recline and place his or her feet above the heart, but which is not limited in the types of designs that can be used to construct the chair. In addition, they would desire an improved braking system that does not require the occupant to get off of the chair and does not require awkward hand movement to lock the chair in a particular position.